Chapter 15 Alive
The duck slices were ready, and my sister put several other side dishes on the table, all of which were seasonal side dishes: fried lotus root slices, fried cabbage with oil residue, stewed kidney beans, boiled peanuts, and a pot of hot chrysanthemum white.

Then he went to the living room in the north room to invite Old Man Chang and Fourth Master Rong, who were drinking tea, to have dinner, and bowed slightly: "Father, Fourth Master Rong, the wine and food are ready, please have dinner."

After Old Man Chang stood up, he placed the walnuts in his plate into a small box on the long table on the north wall. He raised his right hand slightly and made a gesture of invitation: "Let's go, Yaxuan."

"Brother Chang, please go first."

When they arrived at the dining room and sat down, Old Man Chang looked at Yan Baozhen who was standing aside ready to serve them, and then glanced at Wang Deming who was standing next to Yan Baozhen but had not taken a seat.

Old Man Chang realized something, waved his hand, and said with a sigh: "Baozhen, go take the children to eat, and don't wait on them here."

"We have abolished all the rules in our family. We are in the new China now. Why do we still keep these old rules? Isn't that just pretending to be poor?"

"The servants in the house have all been dismissed. It is really unreasonable to pursue all these old rules. We can only eat now, but we still rely on your daily sewing and mending to supplement our income."

"You've suffered a lot. You haven't even enjoyed being the young mistress for a few days, and you're just suffering here."

Yan Baozhen smiled gently and replied, "Father, that's not the case. It's my duty as a daughter-in-law to serve you and grandma."

"How can that be the case? You are also the young lady, how can you watch us eat? That's it, from now on, these rules are abolished!"

"Has the duck been served to the children?"

"Ama, divide it in half and bring it over."

"Okay then, go take the children to eat. Bring over the soup made from duck bones later. By the way, put the old rice that Fourth Master Rong brought over last time in the soup. Fry it before adding it in. Deming, come and take a seat." Only after Old Man Chang said it twice in a row did Yan Baozhen bow again and leave, going to Yard 81 to eat with the children.

Wang Deming stood there with a smile on his face, and only took a seat after his sister Yan Baozhen left the dining room in the east wing of Courtyard 82, at the urging of Old Man Chang.

Old Man Chang first poured a glass of wine for Mr. Rong Si, "Yaxuan, you also know that I am "Zai Li (Zai Li Sect, an organization in the Republic of China, formed by gatherings of well-known social figures, calling for charity, not smoking, not drinking, not eating beef, and not eating black fish)", let De Ming boy drink with you."

"Aren't they all banned now?"

"Well, I'm used to it."

Wang Deming didn't dare let Old Man Chang pour the wine, after all, he was his elder. He stood up slightly, took the wine jug and filled his own wine cup, then sat upright again.

"Yaxuan, is your life so difficult now?"

"Why are you setting up a stall in Houhai?"

"If there is really no other way, can I still let you have a bite to eat?"

Fourth Master Rong picked up the wine cup and drank it all in one gulp. He smacked his lips and then smiled and replied, "Second Brother Chang, aren't we all the same? Is Qing just waiting to eat up all the money?"

"Your family is small, and Baozhen is a capable person. The tailoring work she took from Yin Changrong and the tailoring work that Chang Er's wife took from the palace gate (referring to the royal palace, etc.) supplemented a lot of household expenses. Even so, don't you only have two small courtyards left in your family?"

"It's even worse in our house!"

Fourth Master Rong picked up a pancake, touched some sauce with chopsticks, added some scallion, cucumber strips, and a piece of duck meat with skin, folded the pancake into a small cube with chopsticks, stuffed it into his mouth, and commented after swallowing it: "Well, the duck at "Wellcome" is good. It uses authentic Beihe stuffed duck, roasted with fruit wood, with crispy skin and tender meat, without any fishy smell."

After Wang Deming filled his cup with wine, he continued to say to Old Man Chang: "The wives we married are all bannermen. Let alone supplementing the family income, it's good enough if they can take good care of themselves."

"It's not quite there yet, but it's close."

"There are so many people in this family. Some smoke opium, some play cards. There are more than a dozen people and I have to take care of the meals."

"Otherwise, how would I know about so many house-selling notices? I'm also selling a house, but it's in Xicheng District, far from here. It's good to sell this house. The third branch of the Le family, the one that sells donkey-hide gelatin, in Shijia Hutong, wasn't it occupied by a high-ranking official named Huang from Tianjin?"

Speaking of this, Fourth Master Rong smiled and said, "Besides, we have been liberated, so we can't continue to show off. The courtyard we went to today has many gossipy people, and some of them know me, but we are not familiar with them. If they report something to the government, we will definitely be miserable."

Old Man Chang looked gloomy, but then he smiled and said, "That's true."

Then the two began to talk about the past. Wang Deming listened with great interest, especially when he heard that Fourth Master Rong's family was originally from the Imperial Household Department. What about the mystery of Emperor Guangxu's death? How is Zeng Chong's family doing now? Whose family is selling their house again?
When he got a little tipsy, he began to yearn for the good old days, occasionally cursing the Japanese and Chiang Ching-kuo.
When Fourth Master Rong got a little drunker, Wang Deming poured him some wine and flattered him casually, "Fourth Master Rong, listening to you and Master Chang chatting today really broadened my horizons."

"You are this!" He gave a thumbs up. "It was only today that I learned that you were so glorious in your past. When I went to the capital to study, I heard a lot about the four great families of the Imperial Household Department. So you are the successor family."

Fourth Master Rong's face was flushed, and he seemed to be modest: "Well, the real glory is the main branch, the branch of my uncle's stepson Shou. I just benefited from my uncle's influence and worked in the Ministry of Internal Affairs to make a living." "You are modest, haha, so you and my uncle Chang have done such a big business as Jixian Building? Jixian Building outside Di'anmen has more than 220 rooms! It's a pity that it was occupied by the Japanese in those years and used as a military clothing factory."

"Well, I was the one who arranged the deal, but it wasn't entirely my deal. It was just me and my second brother Chang who came forward, and many families, including those from my family, the palace, and the Qing Palace, pooled their money together. The Jiba family also had a share. So later we went to the Japanese and brought up the name of the Manchurian at the time, and the Japanese gave us several million in compensation."

"Oh, the Japanese gave us money later? It wasn't easy back then!"

"Didn't the Japanese support the Manchurian guy at the time? We are all bannermen, so we are one family at the root! What was the name of the guy that Brother Chang and I found later?"

"Mitsumura Kazuo."

"Yes, it was him. Then we found the Japanese headquarters and went back and forth several times. After much pushing and shoving, we finally got some money."

"At that time, these millions of dollars were really a lot of money, right? It would have been too much to spend even now, right? How come?"

"Well, that's why they say Chiang Kai-shek is more hateful than the Japanese. He carried out currency reform, and all the money in Jincheng Bank became worthless. But he became rich and screwed us all. Brother Chang, why didn't we think of depositing it in a foreign bank at that time?"

"Who would have thought of this? We were not short of money at that time, and we had more money than we could spend from the antique business. We worked with the American Lang Shiwei to defraud foreigners, and we had a lot of foreign money in our hands."

"Yeah, that's right."

"But it's useless to deposit money in a foreign bank. Didn't the Su Wangfu family deposit money in a foreign bank? They couldn't withdraw it later. In fact, we should buy more gold and store it at home."

"Brother Chang, in the final analysis, we Bannermen lack foresight. We are good at eating, drinking and having fun, but when it comes to really doing things, we just throw up our hands. It's all in vain."

"That's right. My family has to thank Baozhen and Deming. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be able to keep my two courtyards and shops."

"Uncle Chang, you are too polite. I live and eat here." Wang Deming turned around and kept persuading him to drink: "Fourth Master Rong, you and Uncle Chang have had a very eventful life. You have also eaten and used a lot. What is your biggest regret now?"

After having a good meal and a good drink, Fourth Master Rong strolled from the Moon Gate to Courtyard 81. Wang Kui, who was taking care of the children in the yard, stood up from her chair and squatted slightly to greet him: "Fourth Brother."

"Well, Old Eighth Wife, are you feeling well?"

"Thanks to you, I'm fine."

"That's good. Now the family can't take care of you. Old Eighth passed away early. You are grateful to Second Brother Chang for taking care of you."

“I am unlucky.”

"Well, it's good that we are all alive. New China, new atmosphere, and the new government is also responsible. After all, we all stutter."

Fourth Master Rong took out some money and gave it to Wang Kui. "I still have some money here. You can use it for your daily expenses and continue to take care of the children. I'm going back."

After seeing off Mr. Rong Si with Old Man Chang, Wang Deming returned to his room, sat at the desk, took out a new notebook, and solemnly wrote two words on the cover with a pen: "To Live".

Wang Deming seemed to be assisted by God, and inspiration flowed like a spring, and a tragic story gradually took shape under his pen. Sorry, Mr. Yu Hua, you are so talented, you don't need this book
Of course, considering the times, the core theme must be red.
Before he knew it, Wang Deming had been writing for the entire afternoon. It was not until he heard his sister talking to his mother-in-law and elder sister-in-law in the yard that he realized the sun was setting.

"Grandma, sister, you two are back."

"Yes, I'm back. Baozhen, before I came back, I called and ordered a box of dishes from Puyunlou: smoked chicken, braised pork in clear sauce, and tripe. You can pay the bill when the waiter brings it to you later."

"Okay, grandma."

"What's burning tonight?"

"At noon, Deming ordered a duck from Huierkang. My father and Fourth Master Rong shared half, and the children shared half. There was some left, so I heated up the duck bones and added some boiled cabbage, vermicelli and black fungus. The staple food was chestnut flour buns."

"Oh, Deming is back? This kid is always so polite."

"I miss him a lot after not seeing him for such a long time."

"Come on, go back to your room and come back to greet you at dinner time."

(End of this chapter)